Friendship May Be Magic, but Trust is Power
by Vampire Tails
Summary: "...because you must have trust before you can ever have a friendship." The denizens of Ponyville, especially the Mane Six, are at a loss of what to do when a small, pink (asocial) puffball crash-lands near their picnic. Third Genre is (Eventual) Friendship. Rated T- for minor violence. Will contain predominantly all characters from MLP : FiM. Started: March 11, 2014 (8:42am)
1. Chapter One: Just An Average Day

**A/N** - Hi, everyone! XD  
Man, have I been away from for so long! o.o  
I bet you all thought I was dead!  
But I'm back now! and I've got another story for ya! XD

I hope you like My Little Pony - well, of course you do; you clicked on it! ^^  
I also hope I stuck true to the characters; I'm a little new to the show. ^^;

P.S. I also snuck in a few **Portal references** and maybe a reference to something else entirely; see if you can find them. =3

Alright, here we go! XD

* * *

**Friendship May Be Magic, but Trust is Power**  
Chapter One

It was a windy day in Ponyville.

The branches of the many trees were shaking; the green blades of grass rippled in whichever direction the wind seemed to go, and the blankets Pinkie Pie set out kept getting blown away so many times that she finally had to hold them down with bricks.

It was also a beautiful day out!

The sun was shining; birds were chirping, and, of course, Pinkie Pie was out waiting for her five friends with an assortment of picnic baskets.

Do you honestly think she would do this in the bitter cold?

Heck no!

...well...

...yes...

Her light sapphires surveyed the area as she lay on one of the blankets, scanning for her friends, all of whom she was sure would come eventually!

Ten minutes passed, and the pink pony changed position every two as she continued to wait.

"Hm... I wonder if they're too busy to come..."

This idea only took a moment to process before she pushed that thought to the back of her mind, shaking her head and in a hushed tone said, "No... they would've told me they were busy... with no time for—no! there's _always_ time; you can always _make_ time!"

The pale, light raspberry pony laughed at her ramblings, her brilliant raspberry mane getting puffy, crinkly, billowy, and flat all at the same time.

"Woah!" a familiar voice rang out, heavily imbued with a Southern drawl—Pinkie Pie's left ear perked up, "if this ain't windy, Ah dunno _what_ is!"

Pinkie Pie hopped off her back and twisted and twirled herself around so that she'd land on her hooves in the direction facing the newcomer, who struggled to trot against the wind with clenched teeth, vigorously holding onto her precious light brown Stetson. Her pale, light grayish olive mane and tail flew every which way, and she was almost afraid that her light brilliant gamboge coat would tear off!

She'd be one _embarrassed _pony, that was for sure...

Feeling the wind relent a little, she unclenched and opened her other moderate sap green eye and smiled.

"Hi, Applejack!" the pink pony greeted, smiling, and then grabbed the handle of a gamboge basket with her mouth.

"Oh, hey there, sugarcube!" exclaimed Apple Jack, ambling closer; the now gentle breeze whistling past them both and sifting their manes and tails. "Sorry 'bout comin' in late," she apologetically smiled. "Ah had to clean up th' farm, an' ol' Windbags sho din't help mattahs. An' then Ah actually had ta get here!"

Pinkie Pie nodded, humming as she set the picnic basket on the gamboge blanket. Applejack looked in the direction of the Weather Factory and raised an eyebrow, "D'ya think somethin' might'a happened at Cloudsdale?"

The pink pony shrugged, her light cerulean eyes almost apologetic, "How should _I _know? I didn't even do my danger twitch!" she opened the picnic basket, various delicious scents then filling the air, and offered, "Apple Pie? Apple Cookies? or just plain ol' Apples?"

Applejack smiled and decided to push the wind incident to the back of her mind for later; after all, this _is_ a picnic, not a Concern Conference, as far as she knew. "Why not all o' th' above?"

Pinkie Pie was so happy she could buck for no reason, but then she remembered her other friends and slightly deflated.

"Oh, now donchu worry 'bout yer friends," Applejack consoled the pink pony as best she could, eating an apple. "Ah'm sure they're on their way!"

And she was right; a few minutes later, the voices of Pinkie Pie's other friends revealed themselves. The party pony jumped with glee and grabbed the picnic baskets bearing the same color as each of her friends and placed them on matching baskets. The Unicorns and Pegasi knew to move onto their respective blankets.

"Is my mane alright?" the light gray unicorn asked, trying to see with her moderate azure eyes her beautiful moderate indigo mane shaded with gradient shadows of dark mulberry and moderate mulberry, "The gale is so _brutal_ today."

"Eh, don't worry much 'bout yer hair, Rarity," retorted Applejack, biting into another apple, much to the regal unicorn's dismay. "'Sides, it's fine. Doesn't even _look_ like it's been tossed by that ol' Windbag!"

"Really?" Rarity's tone made it seem like she was asking for reassurance, but the raised eyebrow, the pursed lips and overall equine language suggested that she thought A.J. was lying.

Applejack scoffed and guffawed, having caught sight of Rarity's skepticism, and replied, "Puh-leese! Do Ah _ever _lie?"

The regal unicorn's eyes widened in realization and, blushing, smiled, chuckling, "My apologies..."

Applejack shrugged in compliance, taking another bite of an apple; Rarity cringed a bit and turned to her picnic basket, opening it and bringing out her special paninis(?) via magic. She ate slowly and delicately, and then turned her moderate azure gaze onto the kind, quiet pale, light grayish gold pegasus silently munching on apples also, her pale, light grayish rose mane and tail fluttering in the wind.

"So... nature's not so bad," began Rarity, her voice directed to Fluttershy. "Not as... deplorable as I thought I knew it was..."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, her moderate cyan eyes glancing at Rarity, "I'm glad you agree! Nature's my most favorite thing..."

"I see..." Rarity smiled, then looked to the pale, light grayish mulberry unicorn whose mane and tail were beautifully colored with a moderate sapphire blue streaked with a moderate violet and a brilliant rosy red. The unicorn had her snout in a book she had brought with her, telekinetically holding it up and scanning it with moderate violet eyes. She had skipped right to the Apple Pie, also using her telekinesis to eat it.

Rainbow Dash, a very light cerulean pegasus whose billowing mane and tail were a rainbow of colors,—light brilliant red and vermilion, a light gold, moderate sap green and violet, and a brilliant cornflower blue—cocked a moderate cerise eye at the bookworm, offhandedly wondering while eating the Apple Cookies how Twilight Sparkle didn't once mistake the book for the apple pie.

"So," piped up Pinkie, eating her sweets, "how's the snacks I made you?"

The ponies, after getting over the shock of her now disturbed silence, murmured with some side commentary that they loved the snacks.

"Good!" she smirked, but, just as she was about to eat more sweets, she started to shudder really badly. The other ponies, except Twilight who was still deep into her book, gasped in shock. "Oh, no! shudder attack! something's about to happen that will flip and flop our lives forward and back!" announced Pinkie, and Twilight then bolted up, skeptical shock present on her face. And then her tail twitched, and she shouted, "And whatever that something is—it's gonna fall from out the sky!"

"Oh, boy! here we go again..." sighed Applejack as she and the other ponies gathered their baskets and scattered for safety.

They hid behind nearby bushes, and everypony noticed a ship resembling a star swerving into the atmosphere.

"What—?" nearly spluttered Twilight.

"...what...is that thing?" Fluttershy whispered, cowering.

"Mah guess"—the splutter of an engine cut Applejack off for a brief second—"is that there's th' thing that's gonna flip an' flop our lives forward an' back...!"

"That sounds corny coming from you, A.J.," Rainbow Dash spouted bravely, seemingly unfazed by the star spinning towards their picnic spot.

"An' Ah agree!"

Rarity simply stared curiously at the object, and Pinkie Pie grew more visibly excited as the star cruiser closed its distance. It then crash-landed, carving a deep crater into the earth and spewing up debris and dirt onto the onlookers and everywhere. The ponies coughed and brushed and shook off the dirt as they recovered from the shockwave that had knocked them back, and Rarity overreacted, screaming and bucking. "Dirt! It's all over me! Get it off!"

"...But I thought you said nature wasn't so bad..." replied Fluttershy, cocking up an eyebrow.

"Not when it's on me!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Rainbow Dash interrupted Rarity's breakdown, throwing her hoof down.

"A _thing_"—Twilight Sparkle, rounding on Rarity, pointed in its direction—"just crash-landed on our picnic site, and _all_ you're worried about is _dirt_?"

Rarity calmed down, her moderate azure gaze directed to the ground, "I apologize... my behavior was extremely inappropriate and uncouth..."

In the middle of her apology, Pinkie Pie inched slowly toward the mysterious star ship she predicted would change their lives and had indeed fallen from the sky. She had the biggest grin on her face, eager to meet an extraterrestrial and to befriend it.

"...I shouldn't worry about beauty in the face of..." Rarity slightly lifted her head and out of the corner of her eye noticed Pinkie Pie tip-hooving off toward the crater, "...such situations..." she drifted off and raised her head completely, her moderate azure gaze trained on the pink pony. The regal pony then announced, "Where are you going, Pinkie Pie?"

The rest of the Mane Six then turned toward the now sullen and embarrassed Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, don't tell meh you were 'bout ta visit that—!"

"—thing we don't know what it does, or _is_?" Twilight rounded on her, "we don't even know if it comes in peace!"

"...Yes..." the pink Earth pony innocently replied, smiling.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle showed their frustration in different ways—the former two face-hoofed, and the latter simply frowned at Pinkie.

The pink pony then blurted in defense, "It could be friendly!" and maneuvered her light cerulean eyes over her friends, as if trying to find somepony who agreed.

"But you could've been hu—!" the light grayish mulberry unicorn couldn't finish, for a soft voice interrupted with:

"She could be right," and all eyes turned to Fluttershy, who lightly scuffed the ground with her hoof and sat upright, her moderate cyan orbs trained on the crashed star cruiser. "The poor creature could be in trouble," and then her eyes maneuvered to her friends and hardened, "and look at what we're doing..."

Rarity showed a bit of shock-induced hesitation before she nodded, "Fluttershy's right, everypony," and looked to the other three. "We're wasting valuable time. But, just in case the creature proves dangerous, somepony is going to have to lead us in."

Rainbow Dash spoke up then, "I'll do it," puffing out her chest, and made her way toward the ship; the rest of her friends lined up in a near pyramid formation behind her. Rainbow Dash stopped directly in front of the star cruiser, almost glaring at it; her friends carefully kept an eye on it as they peeked out from behind her, each holding different expressions—Pinkie Pie, in particular, was almost grinning from ear-to-ear.

The sky blue pony with the multi-colored mane then tapped the dome with her right hoof, and instantly there was a mechanic hiss; she gasped, clenching her teeth, and stumbled backwards up the crater, unknowingly pushing back her protesting friends. The dome started to rise, pulling itself from the cruiser as it revealed what was within.

Pinkie Pie almost squealed with delight; Rainbow Dash promptly adorned a look similar to that of disgust, as if to say, "_This_ is what we were afraid of?!"; Fluttershy and Rarity looked at it with sympathy; Applejack stared blankly, not sure what to think, and Twilight Sparkle shared the same look, only more of skepticism as she examined the creature.

The creature was a pink puffball wearing a black, tattered cloak, seemingly unconscious.

"...Whaddya think that there createah is, Twi?" inquired Applejack, and everypony's eyes turned to Twilight for her knowledge. The lavender unicorn thought long and hard about this matter, racking her brain for a solution, as her moderate violet eyes scanned the puffball, before she gradually began to realize that she hadn't a clue, much to her dismay.

"I...don't know," and her friends were taken aback, and they turned back to the creature, sizing it up and down; she added, "but one thing I _do _know is that Princess Celestia _has_ to know about this."

Rainbow Dash frowned, her deep cerise orbs locked onto the creature, and she voiced her previous expression, "Hold on! _This_ is what we've been afraid of?!" and she stepped up to the ruined, open star cruiser, "a pudgy little pink ball?" and poked the creature lightly.

"Don't do that..." softly commanded Fluttershy.

"Oh, calm down, sugarcube!" Applejack cried, "you of all ponies should know that it could'a been _much_ worse!"

"Yes!" Rarity jumped in, "besides, we don't even know what it can do yet, much less decide if it is truly a danger to us all."

Pinkie Pie, taking advantage of their brief tiff, snuck past all of them to take a closer look at the creature, marveling at its simplicity and daydreaming the many adventures they both would have together!

The pink mare then noticed the creature wiggling, as if being aroused from a deep sleep, and "sing-songily" announced, "It's waking! it's waking!" bouncing in place with excitement.

The other mares then fell silent as quickly as a fire would go out when doused and turned their attention to study the creature. Applejack pulled Pinkie Pie back into the pyramid formation, and the latter then popped her head up and out from behind the former so she could watch too. The lines they thought were scars were actually eyes, as they fluttered open, unveiling dull, dark red ovals that struck fear into their ever-loving hearts.

The cute, iridescent blushes suddenly didn't matter anymore...

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack tried their very best to bury their fear of the creature underneath what they hoped were kind, hospitable smiles. The pink puffball, now sitting up, frowned regardless, its eyebrows slanting inward in a perpetual dark mood. Twilight Sparkle gasped, almost backing away and breaking up the formation were it not for her friends' hooves being firmly rooted to the broken ground.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what to make of this; she stared with empty shock into those eyes. She'd been taught through experience to beware, _especially_, those with red eyes, for they either contained evil or powers beyond their reckoning and imagination—or were evil themselves...

But then, on an unrelated note, Rainbow Dash would also have to have _herself_ to beware, so at what point should the line be drawn?

She stooped down to the creature's level and studied it some more, much to the latter's aggravation.

_What makes _you_ so dangerous, pink puff?_

The pink puffball didn't falter one bit as it glared back into her eyes. He wasn't sure what these creatures were, or why they were staring at him so, but he knew he couldn't trust them.

He knew what trust had gotten him in the past...

Everypony except Rainbow Dash who was busy staring down the pink puffball exchanged uneasy glances, each unsure whether to speak or even what to say—_or_ _who_ would speak.

After what seemed like forever, Pinkie Pie smiled genuinely, having wrested enough of her previous excitement and happiness and a whole lot of other bubbly emotions that extinguished her fear of the creature, and cheerfully greeted it from behind Applejack,

"Hi there, cutie!" and then eventually pushed the light brilliant gamboge Earth pony aside, the latter loudly mumbling in confused protest, and outright _knocked_ Rainbow Dash out of the way, which resulted in about as much of a reaction as you'd expect. The pink puffball, startled, hopped up onto his red shoe-feet, prepared to defend himself, as he gazed at the other pink creature that had taken the rainbow-colored and _winged_ creature's place.

And in a rather dramatic way, if he had the right to mention.

He had to admit—it was a rather nice change of pace from staring into judging, prying cerise eyes.

This didn't make him smile though...

"What's your name?" nearly shrilled Pinkie Pie; the ponies, including Rainbow Dash who had recovered and was now hovering above the group, grimaced and also noticed the pink puffball cringe and shut its eyes, clenching its teeth.

When he reopened an eye, he rubbed the side of his head (...body?) with a stubby hand to calm the ensuing headache and glared at the noise maker. The pink pony simply smiled toothily and from ear-to-ear, unaware that her attempt to befriend the creature was only irritating it and making it mad.

When she felt a hoof tap on her shoulder, Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, her once smiling mouth forming an "o"; the "o" shape only slightly expanding in size and altering a bit to form an oval when she noted the glaring frown on the puffball's face, obviously directed at _her_, for reasons she couldn't understand.

She then turned on her right hoof-heel to face who she thought tapped her shoulder, but Applejack pointed her the other way, still keeping an eye on that creature—just in case it tried something.

The party pony looked in that direction, her light cerulean eyes meeting moderate azure ones, and their owner then spoke, "I do believe this requires more of a delicate touch, my dear Pinkie," and batted away her bangs in a manner not that far off from snobbery. Rarity smiled softly when the pink Earth pony seemed disappointed, silently questioning "Why?" through her eyes, and simply replied, "You're aggravating the poor thing."

Before Pinkie Pie had a chance to react, the unicorn's ivory horn started to glow a bluish white and then so did Pinkie Pie!

The rest of their pony friends were confused as to why she would use her magic and the alien jumped back in similar sentiment, but with shock intermixed. Her eyes widened when she started to levitate, and Rarity gently sent the pink mare back into the pyramid formation. Her horn stopped glowing and so did Pinkie Pie, and then Rarity stepped forward, taking the loud mouth's place with elegance and grace, eyeing the pink puffball with concern and an ounce of curiosity. The pink puffball was unsure about this and he stroked where his chin would be as he gazed at this creature and into her eyes.

_Something about them all reminds me of horses... but not quite—they're too small..._

He stole a glance at the rest, noting how each had different expressions as they tried to make head or tail of him, and then looked back at the light gray creature smiling gently at him.

_...Ponies, maybe?_

"Hello, dearest," the horned pony greeted, lowering her head only slightly, "I apologize for Pinkie Pie's antics. She's merely expressing her excitement."

_...Pinkie Pie?_ the puffball then looked over at the pink pony—Rarity following his gaze—who then waved cheerfully at the two, but especially at him.

_Huh... well, it fits..._

He then turned his dull, dark red eyes back onto the light gray, horned pony, and they each studied each other more closely. Rarity, being _the_ eye for fashion, noticed with horror how tacky, tattered and malformed the creature's black cloak looked—WARNING: this vision _might_'ve been exaggerated.

"Oh, Celestia!" she gasped out, her pupils shrinking,—confused, the puffball frowned, raising an eyebrow, _...Celestia?_—"your attire... it's worn, unclean, and maybe just a touch outdated."

The puffball grew irritated, _...Outdated?,_ and also a bit frightened, and he thought, _Wait... she's not thinking about removing it... is she?_ as he backed away, stumbling a bit over the interior ridges of the star cruiser. Rarity, surprised and concerned, added, leaning in closer, "Don't fret, dearest. Rarity shall make you a new cloak, and it shall scream perfection...!"

The fashionista formed an expression of perplexed despair when she saw that it still didn't seem to like the prospect of having a brand new cloak tailored to its needs, as it hugged its current one closer to it.

_That can't be... perhaps there's another prospect it didn't like buried somewhere..._

A soft, gentle voice—"Excuse me..."—garnered Rarity's and the creature's attention, and they turned to their right (or, rather, left for the creature) and saw the pale, light grayish gold winged pony. Rarity stepped aside, allowing Fluttershy to take her place, albeit with slight timidity; her moderate cyan eyes gazed upon the cute animal in front of her with sympathy and kindness.

The puffball's usual scowl lightened a bit in this winged pony's calming presence; he found himself about to smile, but suppressed his natural affinity, settling in favor of the firm, steady, neutral line instead. The rest of the ponies watched this with full-blown interest; Fluttershy didn't even have to say anything to evoke such an emotional change in the alien puffball; it even stepped forward!

The pegasus scanned the creature for any wounds, bruises and other injuries, noticing none except for old scars, one of them, particularly prominent, running at an angle down through his left eye. Fearing the injuries may instead be internal, she softly inquired, "Are you alright, little one?"

Shock quickly danced across his features, and Fluttershy took special note of that fleeting expression, her concern growing ever more due to the (possible) unfortunate implications that this shock uncovered. After a short while of wrestling with his (now and _only_ for this moment) unreasonable trust issues, he brusquely nodded his answer, careful not to tip over.

"Oh, thank Celestia...!" whispered the kind, timid pegasus in a celebratory tone, but by no means did she forget that special note.

_...There goes that word again... by the sounds of it so far, it seems to be some sort of mild oath..._ the puffball mused, stroking his chin again.

Fluttershy still couldn't believe how long it took her to speak up—if the poor creature _was _hurt, perhaps to the point of lethality, she wouldn't have had much time to save him and probably would have had to watch him _die_.

She deemed herself _**extremely**_ lucky that prospect hadn't come to pass, or she would've been _heartbroken_. She pushed the thought out of her mind, instead choosing to focus on the more promising, sweeter reality rather than the bitter, downer "what-if".

Fluttershy knew that the pink puffball had no intent to harm them—_if he did, he would have done so already..._ said her thoughts—but asked, "Do you come in peace?" anyway, just to help the few pony friends who still considered the creature a threat to Equestria feel better.

There was no hesitation; he nodded, vigorously this time as if to make a point.

Pinkie Pie smiled _even_ _more_, if that were possible, and Rarity sighed in relief, thanking Celestia that she didn't have to get her hooves dirty and that she wouldn't have to help do away with that cute creature.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still wary of it, although the latter relaxed a bit, and Twilight Sparkle was still skeptical—_We know nothing about this thing... what if it pulls a fast one on us? there're these...things, you know? called _lies_? ever _heard_ of them...?!_—but kept it to herself for the most part, though her incredulity still shone through her countenance in pieces.

"Well, that's mighty nice to hear—er, Ah mean, _see_, sugar cube!" piped up Applejack, tipping her Stetson. The puffball creature turned his uncertain eyes onto the light brilliant gamboge pony who had no wings or a horn from his observation, and heard her chuckle sheepishly when her moderate sap green eyes met his red ones, her ears flattening against her hat.

"No sarcasm, or anythin', if'n that's what ya might'a thought," she seemed to have felt the need to add. Applejack could've sworn she'd seen the ghost of a smile flit across his lips, but was unsure if that could have been her imagining it instead.

_Oh, shucks! the smile looked cute on 'im, regardless..._ she mused, smiling, and stopped acting sheepishly when the critter looked back at Fluttershy, subtly breathing out a sigh of relief, and immediately felt bad for doing so.

So, she, after a while of hearing Fluttershy's retraction of questions and Rarity's attempts to help and seeing the confused yet calm face of the puffball, decided to trot out of her spot in the pyramid formation and join Rarity and Fluttershy in front of the star cruiser, giving the best, kindest smile she'd ever given when the creature looked her way, and offered, "If'n ya hungry, Ah've still got some apples—"

And then Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up beside her, upside-down, scaring Rarity, Fluttershy, the pink puff, and _especially_ Applejack half to death and surprising everypony else, grinning lopsided and holding the gamboge picnic basket out to her.

"Here you go!" she shouted in a hushed tone, still with that lopsided grin, and Applejack looked at her funny as she took with her mouth the basket off her hooves.

"Why, thank ya, sugar cube!" gratefully smiled the farm pony, and then took a good look at Pinkie Pie's position next to her and asked the question everypony and puffball were undoubtedly asking, "and how the hay bales are ya _doin'_ that?!"

The pink mare shrugged and "sing-songed", "I dunnooo!" and then nonchalantly flipped herself so that she joined the four right-side up. The pink puffball and Rarity just stared; the latter eventually started repeating "Don't think about it!" in a sort of sped-up mantra, and Fluttershy looked concerned.

Rainbow Dash laughed, which made Pinkie Pie's grin get bigger, and Twilight Sparkle shifted uncomfortably, briefly wondering whether Pinkie Pie was the fraternal, good twin of Discord, only born thousands of years later.

Or maybe even a distant cousin...

"So, anyway," Applejack continued, turning to face the pink puffball who had shaken off the confusion when he heard her country accent and looked back at her, "Ah've got some apples for ya if'n yer hungry," and she set the basket in front of the creature and opened it, smiling. And then the smile faded, and she asked, "Uh... ya _do_ laike apples, right?"

Oh, he _loved_ apples; she had _no_ idea!

But the surge of happiness inside was only communicated by another vigorous nod—his facial expression didn't change a bit.

"Well, that's mighty nice, sugar cube!" she smiled, nudging the basket closer to him, and the other ponies smiled too; she continued, "You are definitely gon' laike it here!"

The puffball frowned a bit, which made the four ponies take a step back anxiously and Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle take a step forward, intending to defend their friends if they had to.

Like it here? ..._he'd_ have to be the judge of _that_...!

And, speaking of "here", he'd have to find out what this place _was_.

He hesitated for a moment, and then nabbed the picnic basket and started running _away_ from them, much to their shock, dismay, and surprise. He heard them protest and call for him to come back, but he kept going, going as fast as he could. He felt bad for leaving the kind winged pony and the Stetson-wearing pony, though; they seemed nice...

...but he couldn't trust them.

The only person he could trust was himself.

"Oh, great! the thing is loose and now it's gonna wreak havoc on Equestria!" the lavender pony, having cantered out of the crater in the direction the creature had gone, cried out.

"_He _is _not_ a _thing_ or an 'it', Twilight," decried Fluttershy, following her; Twilight cringed. "You _know_ better than that!"

The unicorn sighed, shaking her head at herself, and said, "I know... I'm sorry, Fluttershy."

"Besides, he said _adamantly_ that he wasn't gonna wreak havoc and harm anypony here! that he came in peace," and while she said this, the rest of their pony friends were climbing up the crater to join them—Rainbow Dash flew up and Pinkie Pie popped up and out of a nearby flower that wasn't there before; nobody wanted to question _that_.

Coughing and panting, Rarity stepped up, "We still must stop him, though. He's not cognizant of Ponyville or of the rest of Equestria. He could run into very dangerous creatures."

"Oh, Celestia!" the pale, light gold pegasus shrilly exclaimed; everypony jumped back in shock. "You're right! he could get lost, hurt, or something _far_ worse..." and she plopped down, her tail curling around her, and hung her head in deep sorrow and regret. _Why couldn't I have stopped him? Why didn't he stay?_

Rainbow Dash gazed at Fluttershy, exchanging worried glances with her friends, and flew down to her side and placed a hoof on the depressed pegasus's shoulder, waiting until she looked up at her before she said, "Don't worry, Flutters!" grinning into Fluttershy's surprised, watery eyes. Rainbow Dash twirled up into the sky and pointed to herself, puffing out her chest, "I'll go scoutin' for 'im!"

A smile eventually twitched its way onto her snout, and, wiping away her tears, stuttered her gratitude.

"Well, that's _wonderful_!" Pinkie Pie celebrated, pronking in place.

"There's just one problem," began Twilight Sparkle, earning a raised eyebrow from the pegasus with the multi-colored mane and stares from everypony else, "if he spots you, he'll either freak out more or defend himself; neither of which are good. And, as Rarity said before, we don't know what this creature is able to do, and we _definitely_ don't want to find out on the receiving end."

"I got ya! so don't worry your little tail off, Twi"—the target grimaced and slightly glowered at this—"I'll be careful!"

Twilight Sparkle grunted, and then sighed, "You better. I wouldn't want to have to attend your funeral..."

Rainbow Dash faltered in her resolve, slowly spinning around to take in the reactions of her friends who had gathered in a circle around her, and Pinkie Pie, whose expression was especially pitiful, cried out, "_None_ of us would!"

It took only one look at Fluttershy and her pleading eyes to restore that resolve, and she then shook off her worry and asserted with a smile, "There won't _be_ a funeral!"

Fluttershy's eyes lit up and eventually that smile graced her snout once again, and Pinkie Pie got up on her hind hooves to celebrate, shouting, "Woohoo! Yeah, Dashie!"

Rarity only stared out in the direction the puffball had taken, as if to will him to return, and hoping it would work.

But she knew it wasn't. That's why hope could be so sad at times...

...but it always helped—to hope.

Even if you knew whatever you were hoping for would never come…

Rainbow Dash then zoomed up and off to find that pink extraterrestrial puff, cheered on by the waves and messages of "Good luck!" from her friends. Applejack, noticing her fashionista friend's slouched body and somber, wistful eyes, then said, "Well, at least th' cute critter won't starve," to try and cheer her up.

Even though it was more directed to Rarity, who raised her head and looked back at her with a sad smile and replied, "Yes... yes, that's always very much a boon, is it not?", the others started chattering about that, nodding in agreement.

"Meanwhile," Twilight began, on another topic, and turned to go back to her home at the Library where she also worked, "I'm off to have Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia about this. She _must _know."

"Okie-dokie, Loki*, Twi!" Pinkie Pie giggled, waving, "See ya later!"

The light grayish mulberry unicorn then cantered her way home, backed by farewells from all four friends. Pinkie Pie then grinned, "Well, I guess the picnic's over now! Bye!" and then pronked her way to Sugarcube Corner, singing a song about the pink puffball. After having said their goodbyes to the pink pony, Fluttershy looked toward the distant trees, her ears flat against her skull and her already tareme** conveying worry for both Rainbow Dash and the pink puffball.

"I hope they'll be alright," she expressed her concern, and the wind started picking up again, blowing her and her friends' manes around. Applejack put one hoof on the timid pegasus's shoulder and the other on her hat to keep it from getting snatched by the wind.

"Hey, don't worry, you two," she had to shout over the wind. "Thangs will be ahlright soonah or latah! But Ah can't stay—Ah've gotta git to mah farm"—she pointed quickly with her hoof used to hold down her Stetson in that direction—"before this here wind gets any worse!" and then she zipped off, almost screaming, "See yaaa!"

Rarity and Fluttershy, after waving, then exchanged glances, and then got closer to one another, their attention still directed to where that alien had gone.

They sighed, and they each had one thought on their minds:

_Why had he not accepted my design proposal?_

_Why had he run away from us?_

...and then they got up and sauntered home together.

* * *

Fin  
3/19/14  
10:54p

* * *

**Optional Ending**

It wasn't too far into the night that a certain pony of the Mane Six realized something.

She realized it sitting at the foot of her bed in the roomy upper floor of the Sugarcube Corner, thinking cheerily about the next parties she would put into manifest once they detained and calmed this pink puffball who ran away earlier today.

Once she realized it, Pinkie Pie shot up, high into the air but, fortunately, missing the ceiling by a hair, and shouted,

"WE FORGOT TO INTRODUCE OURSEEEEEEEEEEELVES!"

so loudly and dramatically that it practically woke up everypony in Ponyville!

...Well, except for the ones who were already awake.

Many complaints were to be had as the residents who were disturbed from their dreamland; just to hear Pinkie Pie scream something nonsensical.

When it comes to Pinkie Pie, however, nothing is a joke...

Really, it's not.

* * *

Word Count: 5,471 +145 (Optional Ending) = 5,616  
Page Count: 22

* - I always get confused on the spelling of Pinkie Pie's almost signature line. Could someone suggest a more "doable" spelling, or is what's currently there fine? Thank you. =3

** - "tareme" is Japanese for "drooping eyes"

**A/N** - Aaand that's the end of this chapter! XD  
It was a whole lot of fun writing this, especially Applejack's and Rarity's accents and Pinkie Pie's antics. XD  
I would also love to be able to add the separately handwritten song Pinkie Pie sings when she pronks away to her home and bakery, but things happened that I won't delve into that resulted in the loss of that song I had written. =/  
But no worries! I'll rewrite it when I remember exactly how it went...

I think this is one of my best so far, compared to my other uploaded stories. =3  
For one, it deeply involves and focuses on the reactions of the other characters besides the two already interacting. I'd always had trouble with writing scenes with multiple characters - more than three at the most - for obvious reasons...  
...Okay, fine, I'll tell you! I tend to narrowly focus on the two interacting characters and not bring in the reactions of other characters who will or might interact as well as of other background characters, and I feel that this shows how I improved. Agree? Disagree?  
Also, the way FiM is structured more or less brings in the whole citizenry of Ponyville too; if the fact that they aren't nameless at all is any indication, so I feel this story will challenge me a bit.

Alright, that's enough of my ramblings! Read, review and see ya next time! XD


	2. Chapter Two: Burden of Thoughts

Here's the second chapter, just like I, only a while ago, promised in my updates on my profile. =3  
The plot and the words tied together belong to ME! and everypony else (and Kirby) belong to blah blah blah, mi mi blah, blah blah blah blah mi mi mi! =3

Ya'll got that?  
**Then rock on and enjoy the chapter! XD *poofs away***

* * *

**Friendship May Be Magic, but Trust is Power**  
Chapter Two

The next morning, Rarity had gotten up early.

_Very _early.

In fact, even though she tried, she couldn't sleep a wink, tossing and turning around on her bed in order to try and find some semblance of comfort.

But for naught.

Thoughts of that pink puffball weighed heavily on her consciousness, and she often found herself questioning and sorting out the many possible prospects of possible reasons he didn't accept having a new cloak tailored for him (and _only_ for him) and also of those that could explain why he decided to run from them.

She worried about him so, and, though she had no idea of his capability or of any abilities he might have had, still wished him well and was anxious about his safety as well as to hear any intel Rainbow Dash may have managed to gather about his welfare, general whereabouts, actions, et cetera, if any.

Said pegasus had to turn in late last night, for reasons Rarity implicitly understood to be darkness, therefore lack of light, the bumps that turned out in such darkness, and possibly an overall lack of understanding of the creature she was trying to track down.

If Rainbow couldn't see through darkness but the pink puffball _could_, then that could spell trouble for her; that is, according to Twilight.

Personally, she couldn't wrap her mind around the image of such a cute puffball who may prove capable, or even immoral enough, to injure or maim or maybe even _kill_ a pony, or, rather, _pegasus_ like Rainbow Dash.

Personally, she would go searching all night if she had to, but because the puffball was still an unknown she couldn't run the risk—because what if he _was_ capable or immoral enough?

And also, she had a shop to which she had to tend, so she couldn't while away her work day.

But, that _was_ what she had done, for entirely different reasons.

For all the passion she had beautifying ponies and sewing designer clothes—by her _own_ design, mind you—for her customers, she found she couldn't focus on such and that her mind kept drifting off onto a burden of thoughts known as the pink puffball, and had to close down shop for the day and turn in early.

However could she achieve perfection by her customers' standards when she couldn't stop her mind from drifting off elsewhere?

Half surprisingly and half _not_ surprisingly, she found with dismay that the same burden of thoughts that plagued her during work didn't stop eating at her even as she tried to sleep, after hours of attempting. And here she was now, wide awake on a still dark morning and lying supine on her bed.

After a while of just lying there, she decided it wouldn't do to stay there with the now ruined hopes that she would actually drift off into deep, peaceful sleep. The light gray unicorn sighed.

_Once again, you have failed me, hope..._

Rarity begrudgingly rolled out of bed, regretting it when she dropped onto her back on the cool, hard, wooden floor instead of upon her hooves. In a strange, small part of her mind, she hoped the impact would be enough to knock her into a deep sleep—a different kind, but sleep nonetheless.

It didn't.

_...Curse you, hope..._

The pain shook her like soft electricity, and she rolled over onto her hooves after she felt the ache go away. Rarity stumbled up, her legs slightly wobbly, and walked right past her sleeping cat, Opalescence. She didn't want to deal with her right now, preferring to let her pet sleep till the time they both normally wake up, and in the recesses of her mind envied Opal's lack of turmoil.

She opened the door quietly with her magic, and down the stairs to her darkened workspace she stumbled. The burden of thoughts wouldn't leave her alone, even as she shut on the lights, which dazzled her and her weary mind.

That was when she realized she could do something with her free time, something that related to that pink puffball...

Rarity galloped over to her easel, activating her magic to lift an already-inked feather pen over to its canvas.

...something like the very thing the puffball rejected.

Like a deliberate, careful madpony, the fashionista started her design of the black cloak. It was a bit hard because she wasn't used to designing for alien non-ponies, but she liked challenges.

_It would be simple._

She drew some more.

_It would billow._

She drew billowy components.

_It would have pockets! inside pockets! I'm almost certain he would like pockets._

She marked where they would be.

_A hood, perhaps? ...hm, maybe later._

She marked the hood for later.

And Rarity drew, and drew, and drew.

When she pulled her quill pen away from the canvas, she smiled at the results; she had to admit, she did pretty well from memory, despite having only met him once and having never done designs for a round, ball-shaped "pony" before. Rarity's smile faded, feeling a little bad that she had to design it extremely simple merely because she didn't know his preferences, but that wasn't her fault.

The light gray unicorn then realized she hadn't any puffball mannequins, and decided to take it upon herself to make one and slipped on her red sewing glasses. That and actually making the cloak would prove difficult, but, again, she liked challenges.

Rarity searched the Carousel Boutique for materials from which to craft the mannequin and once she acquired them all began her recreation of the puffball on a trophy stand she found lying around that was serendipitously big enough to stand underneath the mannequin.

This required meticulous attention to detail; she couldn't excuse or neglect to see a _single _mistake or miscalculation or any of the other mis- words pertaining to this recreation, or else the proportions would be thrown off and the cloak wouldn't fit him, whether because it's too big or too small!

If it _did_ end up too big for him, she wouldn't mind taking it in, but she'd rather get it right the very first time; besides, she didn't know how many materials she had left to craft yet another mannequin if she messed up on _this_ one.

Using the best image she had of him from memory, she crafted the feet and placed them however inches away from each other they were supposed to be and in the position identical to that in her image. And then Rarity began crafted the body/head(?), which caused her many complications.

Most importantly, it was a circle, or sphere since it was three-dimensional, and they were just as difficult as you can imagine, _if_ you were trying for perfection.

Which she was.

She wanted it perfect for him.

After she perfected the details as seen fit according to the picture from her memory, the light gray unicorn used her magic to set the spherical body onto the grooves of the crafted feet which had been carefully and lightly brushed with a strong adhesive. Rarity took the time to craft the stubby hands while she with her magic held the sphere down onto the "shoe-feet" to allow the adhesive to dry and the three parts to adhere properly.

His hands were the easiest so far, now that she's gotten the hard part done; the only problem was how and where she could place the hands in a way that would facilitate the making of the cloak. A small piece of her mind told her to give up, but immediately she shook it off with clenched teeth and almost mad eyes in both senses of the word and trudged on.

After having seen how tacky that current black cloak he was wearing was, not to mention tattered and _bloody_ now that she thought about it, she felt obligated to fulfill any needs the puffball might have lacked and so yearned for, so giving up for her own meager needs and desires would prove her selfish, and _Rarity does not give up simply because "it was too hard to accomplish"_, and she scoffed.

…Wait... _I-DEE-AH!_ and she, grinning, ended up having to pick up a chisel and carefully carve grooves below his face and toward the center for his hands, and then brush adhesive in the grooves and use her magic to lift the crafted stubby hands onto the grooves, holding it there for them to adhere.

She only hoped—

Rarity instantly stopped that train-wreck before it could happen, and sighed with relief. After hope had failed her three times, she couldn't see how it would help her beyond that.

So the light gray unicorn waited until the adhesive hardened, and, when it did, used her magic to levitate the puffball mannequin in its entirety and then lift the brush over to the trophy stand, neatly applying adhesive to the imprints of the shoe-feet, and then moved the brush and replaced the mannequin.

She pressed it down on the stand, letting the adhesive properly adhere before she could smile and call the puffball mannequin finished. Rarity was so proud, staring at the magnificent perfect likeness of her remembered image of him. A little glimmer of light shone through the Carousel Boutique's eastern windows; dawn was now breaking, and Princess Celestia was raising the Sun. And then Rarity cleaned up, putting things back where they belonged and moving the puffball mannequin by the easel.

The light gray unicorn thought about opening the boutique and at least accept _some_ customers for the day, but the burden of thoughts returned to nag at her, and she decided against it, choosing to focus on the cloak that she could now make with the completion of the mannequin. Besides, no event for which a pony needed to pretty up was happening today or in the next few days, so she considered it a well-earned vocation. Rarity then smiled, summoning black material to her side.

_Do not fret, dearest puffball. You shall want no more! Rarity shall make you a new cloak, and it shall scream _your _perfection!_

* * *

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had gotten up a little while after the break of dawn, bursting through the door of her floating home and toward the ruins of the star cruiser, clearing the sky of clouds as she went. She figured the puffball might've returned to that spot, and so flew more quietly and more slowly the closer she got.

When she went scouting for him yesterday, she had no such luck in finding him and thus in reporting his whereabouts, and she had to begrudgingly make her return (read: "get the hay out of Everfree Forest before nightfall and return home late last night").

So the pegasus decided to make up for such failings by resuming the search the moment the Princess of the Day started raising the Sun over the eastern horizon.

Rainbow Dash landed far off from the crater, and cantered toward one of the bushes she and her friends had hidden behind. She peeked out, careful not to make any noise in case he _was_ there, but, much to her mixed relief and consternation, he wasn't.

And the star cruiser was still there.

As she stared at the cruiser, an idea came to her, and she moved from behind the bush and crept to the broken ground, slid down the crater, and raised her forelegs to place them on the hull of the cruiser. Rainbow Dash looked around inside, seeing all kinds of colorful buttons whose function she had no idea but were intriguing nonetheless on its control panel. She, flapping her wings, then hovered over to the comfy-looking chair and stared all around it, looking for evidence that could point to whether he returned.

The sky blue pegasus didn't find any evidence or _pieces_ of evidence, but a little blue box sitting tucked in the corner caught her eye. Curious, she cocked up her cerise eye, dropped down gently onto the chair, which _was_ comfy, and reached down to grab it with her forehoof. For a moment, she questioned the mechanics that enabled her to pick up objects with only a hoof, and then wondered why the hay she thought that!

She pushed the thought aside, lifting the object close within her sight line and inspecting it closely. Rainbow Dash's tail swished with excitement, and she opened the case, her widening cerise eyes beholding a gold star. The pegasus had no idea what it was,—beyond a "gold star", obviously!—and something told her that it was extremely fragile in this state, so she immediately closed the case.

The discovery of this case and its treasure, the golden star, was an incredible first addition to her intel!

Although, that meant...

Rainbow turned to look in the direction that pink puffball had gone, saddened that she'd have to return to Ponyville to report to Twilight Sparkle at the Golden Oak Library about this new information and finding.

She wanted more than anything to actually _find_ the puffball, not bits of information she found along the way!

She often wondered why she allowed this to stop her from doing just that, but the "funeral" remark rose to her mind to serve as a reminder of the reason she couldn't.

And those red eyes, however dull they were, _certainly_ weren't there for nothing...!

So maybe...

She looked at the blue case again.

...maybe, this gold star could help shed light on things...

And then, with a burst of speed, Rainbow Dash twirled up into the sky and shot across it back to Ponyville, getting rid of any clouds she saw on her way.

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle helped her purple dragon assistant, Spike, with re-shelving the books and cleaning up the library, both humming cheerful tunes. She operated her magic to send all books Spike stacked in alphabetical order into the appropriate space as well as to dust off the books and to sweep away the aforementioned dust off the floor.

The unicorn had sent a letter detailing her and her friends' encounter with the pink puffball to Celestia yesterday, but had yet to receive a response. The lavender mare couldn't help becoming a bit concerned, because she had _always_ received quick responses.

Always.

She feared something may have happened, and she faltered in her magic, the books, duster and broom almost dropping—Spike noticed, bright green draconic eyes widening with concern—but her rational side stepped in and provided a good reason, a reason so good it nearly vaporized her worries:

Celestia is a _princess_.

This and yesterday may have been busy days for her, so she was unable to reply as quickly as she may have wanted...

"Twilight, what's wrong?" her dragon assistant asked, walking up to her with a pile of assorted books. He set them down in front of her, and Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, gazing at Spike sadly. "Oh... is this about your letter to Celestia?" he guessed, and guessed correctly he did.

The unicorn nodded and sighed, sending the books into the E shelf and setting aside the broom and duster against the podium where she often read.

"It's just... Princess Celestia's always been quick," she said, looking out a nearby window at the Sun. "Prompt," added Twilight with a flourish of her hoof, and Spike began to stack more books starting with the letter F. She then sighed as her horn glowed a brilliant magenta, picking up the duster and levitating it over to the books, dusting them off, "She's never been _this_ late with her reply."

Her dusting grew more erratic as she worried more and more, sending up a cloud of dust into Spike's face, who had unfortunately walked into it as he brought more books toward the stack. He coughed, unimpressed and even a little irritated, and sneezed as more of the offending particles went up his nose, the force of the sneezes causing him to drop his books.

"Uh... heh heh," Twilight chuckled nervously, her tail swishing guiltily, levitating the duster to hide it behind her back, even though she knew it was pointless, "sorry, Spike..."

She had a thought to dust off the purple dragon's amusing face, but didn't because she feared it might make it worse. Spike sourly mumbled something about these kinds of things always happening to him as he cleaned the dust off his face with a damp rag; he sighed, "It's okay, Twilight," waving a dismissive hand.

His dismissive attitude seemed only to send her deeper into worry as she lowered her head, ears flattening against her skull, and he stammered remorsefully.

"Um... well, I understand, Twilight," the baby dragon stepped over the books, making his way over to her, "but have you ever thought that the Princess might be conducting her _own_ research?" the unicorn pursed her lips in thought, as the dragon continued, "I mean, it's a strange thing that happened! an alien crash-landing here..." he realized and revised it, "although _that's_ not particularly _new_, but the _alien _is!" his excitement made her smile, but that excitement soon wore off, his countenance growing sadder, and he grumbled, "Why couldn't _I _have been there to meet 'im...?" more a statement than a question.

The lavender unicorn's smile turned bittersweet as she addressed his last piece first, placing a comforting forehoof on his shoulder, "Oh, don't worry, Spike. I'm sure you'll get a chance to see him."

His face lit up, and her smile grew and lost the bitterness before she, replacing her hoof on the wooden floor and activating her magic to restack the books she'd accidentally caused Spike to drop, continued, "And you're right. Perhaps she _is_ conducting her own research before she gets back to me, because this is entirely _new_ to her!"

Twilight was about to go on a delightful little tirade, when suddenly the entrance was broken through by a multi-colored streak, surprising both Twilight Sparkle and Spike as they moved to dodge it. Unfortunately, the books weren't invulnerable against the huge burst of wind, and were ultimately blown off the shelves, collapsing to the floor, ruining Twilight's and Spike's re-shelving technique and preventing near success, and the former watched with blank, wide eyes, not even registering or maybe _wanting_ to register the fact that it had already happened; the latter showed inactivity, pupils the size of a pea, but eventually dropped to his knees and screamed, at the top of his lungs and toward the heavens, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" and the scream eventually dissolved into sobs.

In the center of it all, Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly, her ears drooping, "Erm... sorry 'bout that," although she stifled her true laughter which resulted from seeing Twilight Sparkle's face and Spike's thespian antics. The unicorn eventually recovered with a shake of her head, snorting in irritance at Rainbow Dash's entrance, and activated her magic to resort the books and comfort Spike, and, as she did, turned her bitter attention to Rainbow Dash, "This better be good, Rainbow."

"Oh, believe me!" the athletic pegasus exclaimed, snickering with excitement as she flicked something out of her mane with her tail toward Twilight, who, a bit taken aback, caught it with her magic, "it's _good_, Twi! better than good, in fact!"

The light grayish mulberry horned mare saw that it was a box, and opened it with her already-working magic, having put aside her frustration at having had her and Spike's hard work undone. She gasped as her widening eyes beheld a golden star whose resultant brilliance dazzled her, and the purple dragon gasped as well when he came up behind Twilight to see what bedazzled her and Rainbow so much.

"I found that in that star cruiser that puffball creature crash-landed in!" the hovering pegasus dramatically pointed in that direction, a proud smile on her face.

Smiling for a bit, "So," Twilight began, her eyes still trained on the star, "what do you think it is, exactly?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I dunno! I hoped _you_ knew!" growing more concerned that the most knowledgeable pony of her friends didn't know _anything_ about this; she continued as Twilight levitated it over to the podium, "But I get the feelin' that that star is fragile, so... in those little scientify things you do—!"

"Experiments?" dryly corrected Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! experiments, whatever! just be careful with it!"

Twilight sighed as the last of the sorted books flew into the overarching bookcases and the star's home was safely placed on the podium.

She'd study it more later.

Rainbow Dash stuck around, carefully flying up to the top shelf, and skimmed the titles of the many books, hoping to catch sight of a book that had something to do with creatures outside of this very planet; Twilight and Spike watched this play out with interest.

And then, trying to make more conversation, Rainbow said, "So, about that letter..." and Twilight then drooped, much to Spike's consternation, "did the Princess ever get back to ya?"

After a few seconds of silence, the multi-colored tail swished with a bit of impatience and she twisted around to take in the lavender mare's countenance, the irritance and impatience dissolving into worry as Twilight shook her head and Spike looked dejected even while trying to comfort the librarian.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash spluttered, taken aback. She flew back down to properly look Twilight in the eye, incredulity taking over her whole expression, "Whaddya mean? hasn't she always—?" a nod from Twilight affirmed her inquiry, and she pursed her lips, "But... how? why?"

"We assume Princess Celestia's doing her _own_ research," Spike piped up, speaking for the depressed town librarian, who nodded in confirmation.

Rainbow stared for a few moments more before a scoff escaped her throat; she crossed her arms and put on a pout, "Is that all?" and then she cocked up an eyebrow at Twilight and Spike, the former of whom grew indignant and agitated at the sky blue pegasus mare's dismissive attitude and the latter of whom could feel the heat of anger radiate from the librarian and thus tried even harder to comfort her; the pegasus continued, "You had me thinkin' the Princess was in danger!"

Princess Celestia's most faithful student cringed and then with a shaky breath shoved down her anger and frustration, much to Spike's relief for he wiped the sweat off his forehead and put away the fan he was using to cool off both him and Twilight, and said, "That's the problem, though! What Spike and I agreed upon was only an assumption based on what we know her highness is likely to do. We don't know what's _truly _happening over there,"—Rainbow Dash uncrossed her forelegs and dropped her pout as she absorbed each and every word she said—"but she could very well be in danger..." Twilight noted full-blown horror and concern on Rainbow's face just then and possibly on her own, so not wanting to leave it at that, she added, perky, "or very _busy_ with her duties as a Princess of Equestria. Take your pick—they're still all assumptions no matter how you slice 'em."

"Hm... I'd take research and busyness over danger any day of the week!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash with a strong flourish of her forehoof.

Twilight smirked, and then walked over to the podium to stare long and hard at the specimen Rainbow had given her to examine; a strip of light flitted across the golden star as if it reacted to her, and, she, levitating a feather pen over to the easel, jotted down her observation. Spike picked up the broom and began sweeping up the dust that had gathered on the floor as a result of Rainbow's entrance, humming to himself; when he got near Twilight, she, without looking, picked up one of her hind legs to allow the broom to pass underneath it and repeated the process with her other three legs. The purple dragon expressed his gratitude and the lavender unicorn returned with the usual phrase to acknowledge it.

Rainbow Dash frowned a bit. _Twilight's acting a bit too nice to Spike... nicer than usual._

She let this thought simmer, slight suspicion crossing her face at the implication, but shook her head of it.

_No... nothin' suspicious 'bout that! it's a nice change of pace, after all!_ and then Rainbow smiled.

"Welp, I'm gonna go scoutin' for more clues!" she floated her way to the door, "See ya, and good luck!"

Spike waved vigorously while Twilight waved half-heartedly, and then the pegasus flew out the door. Rainbow Dash, though she said she was going to scout for more about the pink puffball, decided it wouldn't hurt anything to stop by Rarity's and see how she was handling all this and to report to the fashionista with the one piece of intel she gathered from revisiting the star cruiser, and headed to the Carousel Boutique.

The athletic pegasus felt obligated to do this, since Rarity seemed to be hit a lot harder than any of them, even _Fluttershy_, by the extraterrestrial puff running away; she was much too quiet and slouchy.

_And Rarity _never_ slouches over!_

Rainbow was now at the door of this blue, purple, and white carousel-styled building, noting with dismay and concern the "Closed" sign on the door.

_Huh... that's weird... she never closes her shop unless she's out, and I haven't seen her around the town square today..._

She lifted a hoof, a bit hesitant to knock in case Rarity happened to be busy, but decided to go along with it, seeing it as the better alternative than just rushing in and startling Rarity, both of which would grant the mares undesired results—mainly the one in which her shop would be ruined. Rainbow Dash heard a Trans-Atlantic accent cry out with shock and automatically hoped that her mere knocking didn't cause Rarity to ruin her workspace.

"Oh!" her voice came out so muffled Rainbow had to prick an ear to hear more effectively, "hang on! I'm coming!"

The pegasus mare cocked up an eyebrow; she'd only knocked _twice_. Her eyes widened instantly when the door opened; let's just say Rarity's seen better days...

"Oh, hello, Rainbow," the unicorn smiled, brushing through her usually well-coifed mane with her hoof and gazing questioningly at the pegasus with tired, crusty eyes, "what brings you here?"

Rainbow Dash, concern worming into her face, stared into Rarity's moderate azure gaze and asked, "Is there anything up, Rares?"

"Uh, no! nothing is 'up', as you say," she chuckled hastily, waving a hoof as if to dismiss the question. "Just working on a project that kept me up nearly all night, is all! haha!" the unicorn half-lied, hoping Rainbow didn't pick up on it. "Now, what brings you here? if I may ask again."

The pegasus raised an eyebrow and poked out her lip; she had indeed picked up on the half-lie, but decided to get on with the intel she had found about the pink puffball earlier, explaining with the appropriate gestures everything to an increasingly-interested Rarity.

"A...golden star?" Rarity's eyes widened as her now small mouth formed those words and her quivering hoof moved up to grace her chin, "found in the corner of that star ship...?" Rainbow nodded, though she knew she didn't need to. A quick silence befell them, and the fashionista's gaze was cast askance in deep thought. Until... "Erm... this marks an important discovery..." she looked back at the pegasus, who tried to remain stoic all the while, and, hoof held out to her now, asked, "can I see it?"

The pegasus with the multi-colored, mussy mane jolted out of her thoughts, one of which wondered why Rarity wasn't as excited as she'd expected her to be, and shrugged, "I'm sorry. I left it with Twilight for further examination..." Rarity sighed drearily, looking, dare she say, even _more_ downcast than she had been, so Rainbow added, "but I promise you I'll get the gold star to ya afterwards, and then you'll have all the info on it you'll need!"

The beautiful unicorn mare seemed to grow happier with each word of her promise, and soon that moderate azure gaze was back onto Rainbow Dash's grinning face, this time with a grateful smile, and she resumed aimlessly brushing through her mane with her hoof.

Unbeknownst to them, a pink Earth pony had stuck her head out of a nearby hay bale with an impossible smile on her muzzle.

"Did you say something about a gold star?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, startling both Rarity and Rainbow out of their wits, and bounced out of the hay bale, shaking the strings of hay out of her poufy mane and tail, much to Rarity's displeasure. The pink Earth pony of happiness and of smiles pronked the remaining distance to them, "Ooh! can I see! can I see!?"

Rarity sighed loudly, directing the athletic pegasus's and party pony's now concerned attention over to her, and said, "I'm afraid you won't find the golden star here, darling. Why don't you go see Twilight?"

The excitement drowned out her concern for Rarity, and she pronked even _higher_, "Ooh! Okie-dokie, Loki! See ya, Rarity!" and then bounced her way over to Golden Oaks Library, singing to herself, but then suddenly stopped, a thought cutting through her mind. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stared at her with concern, exchanging worried glances, until suddenly the pegasus's vision was filled with big, light cerulean eyes, and Rainbow jerked back with a yelp, and Rarity seemed to zone out, still brushing through her slightly chaotic mane with her hoof.

"Wait!" began Pinkie Pie, "does this gold star have anything to do with that pink puffball?"

"Uh...yeah," Rainbow answered awkwardly, looking everywhere but the intrusive, smiling pink pony, "yeah, it does!"

Pinkie Pie squealed, hopping up onto her haunches all giggly, "So, there's more intel on Kirby, huh? I've been waiting!"

"Erm..." Rarity piped up, her crusty eyes losing that misty, glassy look, "is that his name? Kirby?"

"And if so," the pegasus raised an eyebrow, gazing questioningly at the giddy warper of reality, "how the hay do _you_ know?"

"Mm-hmm," nodded Pinkie, still with that lopsided grin, and then she just stared at Rainbow, a serious expression on her face; the two ponies grew disconcerted, especially the pegasus mare. Silence reigned for a full minute of glances exchanged and of fixated stares before... "If I tell you, Dashie, you're mind will be blown. No mere mortal can grasp my logic."

The pegasus and unicorn blinked multiple times with shock, and Pinkie Pie continued to stare at them, and then the former two burst into mumbles of acquiescence, among them were a "I'll buy that for a dollar!" from Rainbow and a "Oh, yes, of course! your logic is difficult to understand already!" from Rarity.

The pink party pony then adopted a large smile, which quickly dropped into a concerned frown, "Did you find him? is he okay?"

Rainbow Dash frowned as well, "No, I didn't find 'im just yet. The golden star is the only intel I've got so far."

"Oh..." slouched Pinkie Pie, her lips wobbly as if she were about to cry.

The pegasus jerked up her head, her eyes widening, in alarm and confusion. _Okay, what is goin' _on_ here? Twilight hadn't reprimanded Spike; Rarity isn't neat, and Pinkie Pie isn't happy!_

Rarity tilted her head at Rainbow, who appeared to be in her own thoughts, and sighed; she _really _wanted to get back to her project, but didn't want to be rude, so she made herself comfortable and sat down. Pinkie Pie looked up at the clear sky, wishing the pink puffball well, and sighed. The more the pegasus ran that same thought through her head, the more it made sense, and she jerked with a revelation, _Pinkie Pie _did_ predict that this was gonna majorly change our lives..._

She glanced at the now sitting and thus slouchy Rarity, _Maybe _she's_ burdened with thoughts centered around that pink puff and thus neglected to take care of herself...,_ and then at Pinkie Pie, _and who _wouldn't_ be sad when told by a pegasus, whose very volunteered duty was to spot the puffball and to report his actions and whereabouts or bring back intel, that she hadn't found him yet and thus doesn't know if he's okay? _She pursed her lips, _Man, was _that _a mouthful or what?! ...but she usually bounces right back..._

"But... don't worry, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow consoled the pink Earth pony, placing a forehoof on her shoulder, and Pinkie looked at her sadly. "I'm not through looking for clues yet!"

The pegasus of loyalty was then unexpectedly hugged, and she stiffened like dry cardboard, all the while the pony of laughter shot "Thank you!" after "Thank you!" after "Thank you!" into the air. And then, with a "Bye! I'll go see how Twilight's doing now!", Pinkie launched backwards off of her and hit the ground pronking to the Golden Oak Library.

Rainbow Dash, after the event was behind her, couldn't help but smile, and then she turned back to the white unicorn mare, her now flapping wings propelling herself into the air.

"Alright," she huffed, flicking her tail, "I should be going now!" if she wasn't mistaken, she could've _sworn_ she'd seen Rarity sigh and grin with relief; Rainbow tilted her head, "Now, are you _sure_ you're alright?"

"Oh, don't mind me!" the unicorn dismissively waved a hoof, chuckling, and she stood up, "I'm _fine_. I mean, I wouldn't want you to put off your search for intelligence for little ol' me!" she batted her eyes, smiling sheepishly, "Besides, I'd love to hear more about Kirby, and I absolutely _must_ get back to my project!" ...Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and poked out her lip; Rarity smiled, surely fake but she didn't have the energy for a real smile, "You understand, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah... okay," she resigned, and then flew off; she soon paused and said, "So, see ya later, Rares?"

A door slamming answered her question, and she cringed before she pulled a deadpan expression and officially flew off.

"La la la la-la laa!" Pinkie Pie sung and continued singing as she neared the large tree house, waving to the various townsponies she'd seen filing out of their homes to some destination she didn't care to know right now. The one thing on her mind was Kirby; where he was, what he was doing, whether or not he was okay—and she hoped to Celestia he _was_—and why he didn't smile!

Her pronking slowed to a canter and her singing grew subdued, her head bowing, and then that slowed to a walk, and her singing stopped completely.

_Oh... I know why he didn't smile... it was because I irritated him _so _much..._

Pinkie Pie found herself at the library's door, and she stared at it, plopping herself down and pouting.

_But... besides that... maybe there's something _else_ troubling him?—he didn't smile at Fluttershy..._

She sighed and lifted a hoof, stared at it, and then knocked on the door; she heard Spike announce that he was on his way, and quickly turned her frown upside-down, however fake it may have been, and righted herself, straightening her back and holding her head up high like a sunflower. The door opened, revealing a then confused and concerned purple dragon, and he looked at her, blinking twice, "Pinkie Pie?"

The pink Earth pony nodded and then tilted her head, growing a bit confused herself—she had no idea what was wrong, and decided to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Oh..." he shook his head, a claw at his temple, and chuckled, "nothin's wrong! It's just... you usually barrel through the door..."

"Oh! I get it! but... I don't throw a barrel through the door or turn into one and rush through the door. That'd be silly!" she smiled, bouncing in place; Spike groaned and facepalmed.

_She completely missed what I meant..._

"But I'd decided to actually knock this time!" Pinkie Pie continued, having missed his facial expression as well, "so I wouldn't mess anything up!"

_Well... _Spike looked at her, bringing his claw from his face, almost ashamed at himself for that condescension, _maybe she _didn't _miss what I meant..._

"Anyway, I came to see that golden star Rainbow Dash said she left here earlier today! I want answers too! you know?" she stopped bouncing and stopped smiling, and just stared at the absent-minded Spike. Pinkie raised her eyebrows, and then queried, "Can I come _in _now?"

The purple dragon snapped out of his thoughts with a jerk, "Oh, heh heh... sorry!", and stepped aside to let the pink pony through. As Spike closed the door, Pinkie Pie focused her attention on the middle, where Twilight Sparkle was looking through a telescope at a specimen she knew was the golden star, and walked there, curiously eyeing the star which gleamed in a possible reaction to her. Twilight didn't even seem to notice her; she was _right _behind her!

But the unicorn _did_ seem to notice the resultant gleam from some unknown cause, and she raised an eyebrow at this.

"Huh...that's strange," she stopped looking through the telescope and started looking at the star with a naked eye. "I'm the only one here by it..."

Twilight kept staring at it inquisitively, and then she caught sight of a fleeting reflection of hot pink poofy hair and of joyful light cerulean eyes staring _right_ at her...!

She jerked back, almost thinking her friend, the bearer of Laughter, was trapped in there, but then felt something, or, rather, some_one_ behind her. That's when the unicorn realized that Pinkie Pie had been standing behind her for an unknown period of time, unusually quiet for some reason.

The unicorn looked over at her shoulder at Pinkie, activating her magic to levitate a quill pen to jot down on the canvas of notes the star's reaction to the pink pony, before she smiled and said, "Hi there, Pinkie Pie. I assume you're here to see the golden star Rainbow Dash had given to me?"

"Yeppers!" she nodded, the light in her eyes and her smile almost saddening for a moment; Twilight narrowed her eyes in confusion and concern but kept it to herself for now. Pinkie Pie continued, "Rainbow Dash and I are absolutely, positively sure that _you_ will figure this all out!"

Twilight blushed modestly and chuckled, "Well, I wouldn't know about that, Pinkie..."

"Oh, don't be a silly filly, Twily!" the pink pony cheerily retorted, with Spike chuckling in the background at her rhyme, and smiled more, hopping in place lightly, "you're the smartest McSmartypants pony I know! I mean, who _else_ has a vast collection of books and knowledge as their main job?" she somehow twisted around to see all the books stored in their bookcases to emphasize her point.

Twilight, a small smile appearing on her muzzle, only blushed more, giving a good-natured yet flattered roll of her eyes, and then activated her magic on the golden star to show that she was changing the subject—Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, quieted and ceased hopping in place, now paying full attention to the star which was floating via rich magenta magic over to her face.

"Ooh..." the pink pony murmured, her eyes widening as the star shimmered once more. She got up on her haunches and slowly clasped it with both hooves; the unicorn mare bit her lip, the prospect of Pinkie Pie somehow breaking it on accident looming in her brain, and warned, "Be careful, Pinkie. Rainbow Dash said it's fragile."

Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight and nodded, visibly putting more effort into holding it carefully but not lightly enough to drop it, sweat dripping down her face. The pink pony narrowed her eyes at the star as she carefully tilted it up, then to the left, then to her other left.

Twilight simply watched, shoving down her impatient impulses and anxious thoughts, however hard it may have been; she, however, was prepared to catch the star with her magic should Pinkie Pie accidentally drop it. The Earth mare's eyes widened for a split second; she had a fleeting idea of what this star could be, but decided, for the sake of the plot, to feign ignorance.

"So," Pinkie began, as Twilight activated her magic on the star to take it off of her hooves, "what do you make of this 'golden star'?"

The light grayish mulberry unicorn bit her lip again as she tried to answer the pink party pony's question, chewing on her lip as she replaced the star in place underneath the telescope and examined her scientific notes on the easel sitting nearby, "Well..."

Pinkie Pie's face lit up with this simple word "well"; she was starting to despair, having flattened her ears against her skull, since she had started to infer from that tense silence that Twilight Sparkle, the smartest pony in Ponyville, didn't know anything about that star that could help. Pinkie Pie's tail flicked with eager impatience, and she gently raised herself onto her haunches and gingerly set and folded her forelegs on the busy podium, much to Twilight Sparkle's expected but involatile chagrin.

"I found that this star sparkles whenever somepony is nearby..." the unicorn began, staring alternatively anxiously from Pinkie to the star, making sure Pinkie Pie didn't cause an accidental mishap.

Pinkie noticed and raised an eyebrow at Twilight the next time those moderate violet eyes apprehensively graced her presence, retorting, "Well? I hear a 'but' coming," and Twilight blushed apologetically.

"Sorry..." the lavender unicorn got off her case, even though the thought wouldn't leave her alone, and mainly put her focus on the notes she had been writing and further explained, "but it's a lot more complicated than that."

_I had a thought it would be..._ the pink pony sneered to herself, slightly seething that Twilight wouldn't tell her everything in one go, but this sense of non-happiness scared her, so she stuffed it in the box she had but no one talked about.

"So, the 'complicated' bit is that it only shimmers for the wielders of the Elements since that's what you observed...?" she guessed monotonously and wearing a deadpan expression, with Twilight Sparkle soon reacting with shock—her eyes growing wide and her mouth hanging open.

Let's just say that if Twilight were drinking water or apple cider, it would've been spewed out by now.

And Spike would be the unsuspecting victim.

As per always.

(cue five-minute montage of Spike getting soda spewed upon him...)

Speaking of the purple dragon, he had finished sweeping up the main floor of the Library and had come up beside Pinkie Pie with a bowl of what he would call "delicious gems" and what I would call "rock candy" to see more into this "golden star" Twilight Sparkle had marked for examination.

Spike snatched up a few colorful gems with his tongue as his green draconic eyes remained fixated on this one specimen the light grayish mulberry unicorn couldn't figure out, as she heard via her earlier musings.

"...How?" Twilight could only splutter, as her eyes went from her gathered notes to the pink pony tapping rhythms on her podium.

Pinkie Pie giggled, "...did I figure it out...?"

The unicorn only nodded as she activated her magic, swirls of magenta surrounding her feather pen. Spike crunched on some more of his gathered gems as he watched the two, mainly Pinkie, explain how she arrived to that conclusion.

Which was... really simple, _if you ask me..._ the purple dragon scoffed gently.

"It sparkled for Rainbow Dash, didn't it?" the pink pony smirked, her forelegs still folded upon the podium.

"Yes, but..." a disgruntled Twilight tried to inject.

"And it glowed for me and you, right?" at this point, Pinkie seemed proud of herself, as she pointed with her hoof to herself and to Twilight.

The unicorn rolled her eyes subtly as she sighed, "Yes... but those were only three Elements—"

"Exactly!" interjected Pinkie Pie, and dumbfounding Twilight. The pink pony shoved her foreleg around the unicorn's neck, which had had been craned in confusion toward the easel as her widened, blank eyes studied her notes, bringing her closer and away from her notes, "Who says it _won't_ shimmer for all seven of us?!"

"Wait..." Spike raised an eyebrow, holding up a confused claw as Twilight then freed herself from Pinkie's grip; he continued, "...seven...?"

Pinkie deflated a bit, her eyes widening, and then she looked to Twilight, who was looking at her like she'd grown a second head. The glimmer of the Sun only shimmered through the eastern windows of the Golden Oak Library, signaling that it was time for the day to be wrapped up and for everypony to return to their homes.

"Uh... did I say 'seven'?" the pink pony chuckled, tapping the podium and glancing at the golden star which shimmered again in her presence. "I meant 'six'. All 'six' of us..." she then smiled sheepishly yet knowingly.

Twilight and Spike exchanged glances, before they both shrugged as the former jotted down this new information on her easel of notes, and then began to talk amongst themselves.

Pinkie Pie then went to stare at the golden star, walking over to that spot around the podium and folding her forelegs on the bank of the table. She grinned as big as the Cheshire Cat's grin as she continued to gaze at the "unknown" star. Pinkie's grin grew larger when the star glowed one more time for her, and her light cerulean eyes widened as an "insane" pony's would.

_Oh! I just know it! You are our seventh..._ she smirked, and even chuckled a bit as she leaned more onto the table and dreamily held up her head with her hoof.

* * *

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia, in her castle overlooking Ponyville, mused over that one letter sent by her prodigy-in-training. She had stood on the balcony to transfer her diurnal rule to Luna, her younger royal sister, who in turn completed the rise of the Moon, symbolizing all that was night and dreamy.

The two sisters then talked, or at least tried to talk, since Celestia often found herself talking about this pink puffball the Mane Six had encountered and were now trying to find.

So, while Luna understood and dismissed their conversation to go back to her quarters flanked by the Royal Guard, Celestia simply nodded with a small smile and retired to the Library once more to see what she may dig up concerning the puffball's landing on and roaming of Equestria.

Much to Twilight's and Spike's assumption, they had been correct; the Princess of the Sun was indeed conducting her own research.

Only problem with that theory—Celestia had also been watching them...

All seven of them.

Like Pinkie Pie, Princess Celestia, who now sat on a futon and was summoning to her side all kinds of books that could help her, knew this puffball was the key to all their problems.

And solutions.

She knew he was, ultimately, the ultimate weapon against some big, terrifying enemy she could not even bear to imagine.

Celestia sighed as she closed the current book, seeing that it yielded no answers. She could only hope that the poor puffball hadn't gone through so much pain that it killed his soul.

For she _knew_...

Celestia wistfully looked up through the large eastern windows at the sky.

_Oh, Kirby... please stay safe..._

―  
Fin  
5/19/14  
11:42p  
―

Meanwhile, the aforementioned pink puffball sat underneath a canopy with Applejack's picnic basket, two apple cores sitting by his side. He was looking pensively at the starry sky through one sliver of an aperture in the closely-knit trees. Offhand, half-eaten apple held tightly within his stubby paw, Kirby wondered why he was so easily accepted, and why was that white horned pony, of all things, so _adamant_ about his cloak?

The puffball sighed as he took another bite out of the juicy apple—its bushel so graciously given to him—and he chewed softly, his thoughtful, half-open dark and dull red eyes sparkling in the moonlight and his black, tattered cloak swaying in the wind that had been nearly vicious earlier in the day.

What he didn't know was that Luna, the Princess of the Night, was keeping an eye on him, making sure he was safe and sound...

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, yes, I know you guys are happy to get a second chapter of this one. =3  
I know, I know. ^-^  
Sorry for not thinking of the people on here. =3  
I won't spoil the next chapter for those who haven't gone on to see it. =3

Next up, is a chapter in Lilo and Kirby! XD  
Albeit unfinished, it still needs to be put up so that when I _finish _the darn chapter, I won't have such hard work to do. =3  
Hopefully you guys will be happy with what I put up.

If not, then, in the words of Flutterjerk, aw BOO HOO! =3  
See yall! XD


	3. Chapter Three: Falling Apart

**As I'd promised, here's Chapter Three of my story. =3  
Though it's sad that whatever music or videos I have on the Fimfiction version of this story will not be available for you here, it's nice that you have something to read just in case you _don't_ want to go (or _can't _go) to the fimfiction site I posted on my profile. =3  
Though it would be recommended. ^_^**

**Anyway, with all my heart...**

**Enjoy! XD**

* * *

**Friendship May Be Magic, but Trust is Power**

―  
Beg.  
est. May 20, 2014  
―

**Chapter Three** **- Falling Apart**

A pale, light grayish gold pegasus, flanked by her bunny pet, sat on her green cot by the fireplace, looking through the window at the whispering, nocturnal Everfree Forest with sad, concerned moderate cyan eyes. Fluttershy sighed, nodding her head sleepily; her ragged, pale, light grayish rose mane slightly getting in her face.

Angel nuzzled her, comforting her, but be knew it wouldn't work; she'd been stuck in a rut whenever she'd have the chance to rest.

The kind pegasus looked at the bunny, tired eyes carrying that one thought since that pink puffball crash-landed here those few days ago.

"Um... Angel... how do you think he's doing?" Fluttershy began softly, curling up within herself to gather warmth. The bunny tilted a bit, tutting that he had no idea, and Fluttershy groaned to herself.

The pegasus snorted in annoyance at this unchanging fact; it's been that way with Rainbow Dash as well, when the athletic pegasus stopped by to deliver that one piece of intel. She'd asked then,―"how is he? Did you find him?"―only to receive a disappointed**―**

"No... " Rainbow Dash had said with a frown, backing up from the yellow pegasus's cottage while Fluttershy, close to tears, followed her out, almost angry at this.

_How can there be no intel? you've been at this for a day and a half!_ she'd thought and wanted to say, but the pegasus had swallowed her anger and kept up her kindness, smiling even when a frown would have been appropriate.

She remembered, however, just before Rainbow flew off, that "golden star" was mentioned and that her friend Twilight Sparkle was examining it, and the pegasus frowned at this and receded into her house after she'd watched the multicolored trail make lines throughout Equestria's darkening sky.

Fluttershy still attended to her duties as an animal caretaker, either going into the Everfree Forest or staying within its cusp, trying her best not to let the fact that the pink puffball had yet to be found bother her. As a matter of fact, she'd even pretended some of the animals she cared for were that pink puffball, and she kept up a warm smile even while on the inside she was being ripped to shreds.

This "being ripped to shreds" part of her ordeal was now starkly shown as her hollow, sad eyes stared out the window into the Everfree Forest, as her overly long mane and tail were raggedy and like an out-of-control mop on her head and down her neck, as her body shivered as she brought her forelegs closer to herself so the coldness within her soul, resultant from the void she felt, wouldn't swallow her up, as the kind smile, having moved, was stilted and in its place settled a frown that would be enough to _scare __**Pinkie Pie**_.

Yep, she was "being ripped to shreds"—as her heart, mind and soul could attest.

All she wanted was to find Kirby...

...to care for him...

...to know if he was okay.

How could she? when he was M.I.A., somewhere deep in the Everfree into which she would be too scared to enter at this time, and possibly hurt to the point of—?!

Angel nuzzled her again, this time rubbing her muzzle, and Fluttershy reset her countenance, which she then realized had been twisting into a scowl. The bunny chittered a piece of advice to the fallen pegasus, and her smile returned, albeit a bit empty, and her once hollow cyan eyes gained some light again.

The advice, Fluttershy realized, was to get some sleep, which she needed _**severely**_ right about now; plus, _there would always be tomorrow, yeah?_

The pegasus opened her wings, standing up on her cot and a determined look settling upon her face; Angel Bunny crawled onto her back after he smiled at her newly gained confidence.

Fluttershy then attempted to fly to her bedroom, but then her sleepiness got to her; her wings locked up and she was snoring before she hit the floor. A familiar draconequus then manifested as the very cot the sweet pegasus had been sulking on, saying, "Oh! Fluttershy! isn't this wonderful!?"

What he was referring to was a lamp in Fluttershy's liking that had appeared in his lion paw / arm of the chair; but, of course, he made it himself!

"Fluttershy?" Discord lowered his voice, growing concerned for his friend as he melted off the cot and popped himself into his proper form. His mismatched red eyes then saw poor Fluttershy (_and perhaps poor Angel, as well..._ he scoffed) on the floor, snoring, with her usually well-combed mane in her face and her extra long tail—which he found "cute", he noted—curled around her matted fur.

"Oh," he began in a whisper, "I see..." and smirked as he brought up his eagle talon and snapped his fingers. In a flash, Discord was in Fluttershy's bedroom, sitting with a fez on a red throne, with Fluttershy snug in bed and Angel Bunny sleeping on top of her covers.

The draconequus smiled, tossing away the paper that came with the disguise and poofing off his throne, which turned into a mini-sun now positioned at a safe distance from the kind pegasus's bed, radiating heat for her, and poofing into existence hovering beside her, the grin on his face growing as he took away her nightmares and left her in a meadow full of happy animals which needed her care.

And with another snap of his talon, he then added a happy tune with a haunting melody, and Discord smirked once more as he hovered into the floor and slithered to the stool beside the bed, his draconic tail softly whipping the stool and adorning it with the lamp he'd made for her.

And, as a final condiment, as Discord yawned and stretched into a three dimensional figure once more, he snapped his talon, and a magical sun brooch appeared in Fluttershy's hair.

"There," smiled Discord, "you're all better, eh?" slithering quietly up to her bed, "I tell you, there's no use worrying. This pink puffball—he'll soon appear," and a doll resembling Kirby appeared in his lion's paw just then. Discord looked at it and frowned, trying to think whether or not Fluttershy should have this, but eventually smiled and zapped it away from him and onto her bed stand.

"You see, there's always a tomorrow, my dear," he good-naturedly smirked, "Good night, Fluttershy mere," and then, one-by-one, body part by body part, he vanished, and soon the only traces of him _being_ in that room were the lamp, the dream, the sun brooch, the Kirby doll, and Fluttershy herself, who now smiled genuinely as she cared for her pets within her mind, heart and soul...

It had been a few days since he'd had those apples to eat. Kirby still felt bad for running away, but with the way some of those ponies were staring at him...

He couldn't take the risk.

He was in a forest of some kind, but it didn't seem natural to him, compared to what he'd seen of this new land. The puffball eventually shrugged, _As long as I'm away from those ponies, I'll be fine..._

His stomach growled, and he rubbed it with a stubby hand. He needed to find some food...

Kirby walked along, his hunting instincts slightly guiding him. Since no one had taken care of him or even bothered with him, he had had to learn to take care of himself to survive—

The puffball heard a rustling in the bush, and, startled, readied himself for anything. He took a quiet step closer, and then another step toward the bush. He came close enough to see through it, and saw a rabbit—an unusual-looking one, but a rabbit nonetheless—on the other side.

His mouth watered involuntarily, a small, predatory part of his mind believing that rabbit to be his meal in the near future. Kirby brought out his switchblade discreetly, licking his lips as his stomach growled quietly and briefly.

But the larger part, but no more or less in demand, of his mind said to him that something wasn't right, and that it was wrong. Could he just kill and eat that rabbit? just like that?

He looked at his blade, seeing the bits of dried blood from battles and from remorse-filled meals of the distant past; the very same battles for which he was persecuted, despite his good intentions...

Kirby snapped out of his unpleasant reverie, instead focusing on that rabbit; trapped in a dilemma of moral beliefs and of corporeal instincts. His stomach growled again, reminding him of his hunger, and his usually dull red eyes briefly glowed and gained dark, animalistic slits, and he, licking his lips once again, narrowing his eyes, prepared for the kill...

...But was yet another stain on his blade worth the merely momentary fill?

After a brief fight of equally loud yeas and nays, his eyes lost the dangerous glow and slits, and he widened them, quietly gasping at the realization of what he was about to do...

_No... no, it's not..._ and, with one last look at the bunny, he retracted the blade and re-sheathed it inside his cloak, almost trembling due to his deep, nearly raging river of hunger. Kirby couldn't stay there any longer, lest he _wanted_ to test his hungry instincts, so he turned to leave, but the soft humming of a sweet melody stopped him in his tracks.

The puffball chanced a look behind him through the bush, and saw the same kind, yellow pegasus in his memory from those days ago. She looked a bit concerned when she saw the bunny, asking in a soft voice if there was anything wrong. Before the bunny could reply, though, his stomach growled again, much louder this time, and he grimaced when their ears perked up and toward the bush behind which he was hiding.

They each looked at the bush and exchanged equally perplexedly surprised glances, and decided to investigate.

Kirby panicked on the inside, the fear of being found again rising to a near high but only leaking through to his body language; he didn't care that the one about to find him was the one who calmed him with her presence alone all those days ago.

He just wanted to be left alone!

So he ran to his left betwixt a mess of trees, dodging them left and right with superior jumping skills and reflexes. Fluttershy had only seen a pink and round blur, but instantly knew who he was. The puffball who had crash-landed here all but a few days before, but it never seemed that long ago.

...And she just missed him by a hair!

She plopped down and covered her face with her forehooves and wailed into them, so deeply worried about him. The bunny beside her nuzzled into her, trying his best to comfort her and kept trying even though he could tell it wouldn't be any use.

Kirby had stopped running, stepping out of the almost tightly woven trees onto a dirt path, and was startled and immediately ashamed by the haunting wails of the winged pony from whom he'd just run away...

Again.

He solemnly sighed, but kept going.

He wouldn't let himself be found.

* * *

It was late at night on the Sweet Apple Acres.

The Apple folks tilling the field for next week's harvest were gearing up to hit the hay. Those who stayed inside to make piece-meals for the family and food for profit—that which is sold in the Ponyville marketplace—cleaned up and talked heartily about their day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had happily volunteered to sell the apple pies, curry, and apples to the residents in Ponyville, and Applejack, no more excited about this prospect, volunteered to supervise them.

Needless to say, despite being stationed in the busiest section of the marketplace, despite getting their products sold at a rate rivaling Pinkie Pie buying a batch of their cider come that day, and despite Apple Bloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's excitement to sell products grown and made by the folks at Sweet Apple Acres, the light brilliant gamboge pony was nothing short of bemused as she leaned on the produce stand, waving away with an empty smile the successful customers and snarking lightly at those who failed to buy or didn't want to buy anything, sharing only a little excitement with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Apple Bloom, her younger sister, was the first to notice, and her reddish amber eyes narrowed at her mentor in concern, "Applejack..."—moderate sap green eyes snapped open in firm attention as the farmpony responded awkwardly as if waking up from a dream and turned her attention to her volatile prodigy, "Yes...?"—and then the country filly asked, "What's wrong?" after selling a pie for four bits to an eager customer.

Applejack had to think on this, shaking herself out of her stupor. Sweetie Belle, the younger unicorn sister of Rarity, noticed next, as she balanced the big bowl of apple curry on her head, having ventured out into the crowd to get customers to buy a bowl, and she placed the giant bowl of curry lithely on the produce stand as her sparkling pale, light grayish harlequin eyes beheld her good friend's older sister's not-so-gungho attitude. The light gray unicorn filly then settled for bringing out the bowls and ladle, using _them_ to dole out what paying customers requested, still watching Applejack trudge her way through advertisements and showing what their produce stand had to offer, which Scootaloo had happily undertaken, using her trusty scooter and helmet and her voice to lure a crowd.

Apple Bloom's older sister sighed drearily, her moderate sap green eyes rolling off to one side for a bit; her left hoof remained as a prop for her head and her blond forelocks covered her tired, pensive eyes.

She really wanted to say she was okay...

She really did...

...but she wasn't...

She wasn't okay...

Applejack often found herself thinking about the pink puffball and his stomach, even throughout her chores.

_And...if'n he's as hungry as I suspect, those apples sho ain't gon' be nuff to hold him..._

An apple bonked her on the head, reminding her of reality.

Yes...

Yes, she _did_ just relapse into that burden of thoughts, and the Earth pony wanted to facehoof herself so bad—

"Applejack!" cried the frail yet strong pegasus filly, and the farmpony jerked herself out of her thoughts and groaned to herself.

"Yes, Ah'm fine," she stubbornly attested, bringing down her right hoof onto the table, and immediately felt bad, and rolled her eyes to sigh loudly yet no more dramatically than Rarity.

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at Applejack, stopping her scooter tricks as her grayish purple eyes scanned the older pony.

"You sure don't look fine to me..." the light brilliant gamboge filly frowned, even as their money bowl filled up to the point of overflowing, and the sky darkened to make way for the moon.

The elder farmpony sighed again, "Nope... Ah sure don't..." and a bit of a smile appeared when she looked near the heart of the table and saw how much money they gathered and how many products they sold.

"Why can't you be happy, AJ?" the pale, light grayish olive pony asked, as she replaced the full money bowl with an empty one, her sparkly reddish amber eyes widening with concern; she intended, and she hoped her two cutie mark-less friends also intend, to press and figure out this issue with Applejack.

No matter what it may take.

_And it sure don't matter how..._ seriously mused Apple Bloom, her hoof acting as a prop for her head and her elbow stretched up on the produce stand. She thought it over again, decided, rather frantically in her mind, that this current thought was nearing a Despair Event Horizon, and, much to her satisfaction, added, _Or maybe it does matter how... within reason!_, as her worried, bemused eyes still watched Applejack stumble over counting the amount of bits they'd earned.

"We're doin' a pretty good job here, y'all!" the gamboge pony smiled a bit, after she'd cut through about half of the bits they'd obtained. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, however, saw right through the usually diligent farmpony's efforts to put up a cheery face and tone. Scootaloo was too busy drawing the crowd to help Applejack through her rut; though she _was_ concerned, she couldn't stop her tasked job.

Applejack's smile slid off her face, her moderate sap green eyes glazing over again, her thoughts now and again centered around the pink puffball. Earlier, she was okay and working hard on the farm, the thoughts only bothering her a little bit; there were times, however, when the mare would mess up a task because those same thoughts got too big for her to push away. This time, she wondered about the "golden star" Rainbow Dash told her she'd found earlier today. She remembered frowning in deep thought for a moment and then giving Rainbow a deadpan stare when the sky blue pegasus told her the star was with her friend Twilight Sparkle for experimental purposes.

"What?" Applejack remembered her saying to that look, "it's Twilight Sparkle's orders!"

"But Ah can't just leave the farm right _now_! Me an' the Apple family _have_ been pretty busy as of late," she remembered returning as she loaded a box of apples onto a cart filled with several other boxes of apples.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't help that!" the pegasus shot back, stretching her wings, "but you could always visit later."

Applejack outwardly scoffed, but, feeling bad, she sighed and said, "An' what if'n Ah wanted to see this 'golden star' right now? Yer reckon Ah go see her?"

"Yep."

Another apple bonked her on the head, and she awoke from the past once more, her tired look twisting into a scowl at the one she knew would do that. Scootaloo simply shrugged, a smirk on her face, and the new money bowl filled up even more—_perhaps at its halfway point; perhaps even more than that..._ came Applejack's fatigued estimate. Applejack scoffed and mumbled incoherently to herself, shaking her head.

"Applejack..." began Sweetie Belle, gaining AJ's attention and hoofing over a bowl of apple curry to yet another customer who paid her due, "we're worried about you."

"Yeah," Apple Bloom supplemented, collecting the pay of two bits and putting it neatly into the bowl; her elder sister watched her with tired eyes, which were then met with those sparkly reddish ambers, narrowed with worry, and the leader of the CMC added, "what's wrong, sis?"

The diligent, honest farmpony hunched over, sighing and snorting,—almost sending her sister into a worried frenzy—before she set her forelegs on the edge of the table, "It's... kinda a long story, ya'll... but... Ah reckon Ah should'a told ya'll sooner..." and thus she delved into the story where she and her friends had to run from their picnic site or else a mysterious star cruiser would've fallen on them—the Cutie Mark Crusaders gasped at that and other distasteful bits, shooing away curious onlookers. And then she got to the part where they investigated, describing what it turned out to be.

"It was a cute critter... yes, indeed," the light brilliant gamboge pony chortled a bit, rubbing at her mane with anxiety. The three fillies, though keeping at their lessening duties, listened intently to what she had to say, deeming this as important. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shot a glance at their products, noting six pies and three scoopfuls of curry left, smiling a bit with the knowledge that they could soon rest.

"That is, until it opened its eyes..." Applejack recounted, a dry look in her eye, and the CMC tensed, "a dull, dark red... an' ya know what _that_ oft' means, doncha?"

The Crusaders nodded firmly, exchanging scared glances, though Scootaloo tried her best to hide hers, riding in on her scooter as a finish since their customers were dwindling as the night drew on. Applejack then shook her head to show that stereotype wasn't to be, "We were still scared... but Ah felt bad and gave 'im mah picnic basket..."

The CMC were all equally surprised that Fluttershy stood in like that, but decided they shouldn't be—that Cockatrice incident, for one...

She recounted some more of the story, a tear coming to her eye when... "An' then, he took th' basket, an' ran away from all a' us..."

Applejack wiped away the tear swiftly, though Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle still noticed.

_Ah, so that's why mah big sis isn't bright as a bushel..._ the sibling filly bit her lip, asking, "So... you're worried 'bout 'im?"

"Boy, am Ah!" she exclaimed, bowing her head and touching her Stetson hat, narrowing her moderate sap green eyes with an indescribable emotion; she sighed, noting that it was time to make a move toward home with their earnings and grabbing the money bowls and empty apple baskets to put in her saddlebags, "With all these thoughts scuttlin' 'bout, Ah hadn't been up to par... it's jus'... a great big mess! Ah worry 'bout his safety," she doubtfully paused, biting her lip tentatively, but then went along and finished her thought, "but also 'bout _ours_ as well..."

Apple Bloom pursed her lips as she packed up the pie holders, her mouth open to ask a question, but, unknowingly, Applejack answered it, "The critter's loose, y'know? An' we have _no_ iota of what he can do..." shaking her head with both doubt and pity.

Reddish amber eyes widened in fear, and their owner whispered a quiet, "Oh..." as she drooped.

Sweetie Belle, though just as fearful of the situation, comforted her as she gathered the big, empty curry bowl and the ladle to carry in her saddlebags, offering, "Perhaps the creature's not so bad, Apple Bloom... he didn't attack our elder friends," with a warm smile. Scootaloo was too busy hooking the cart to her scooter to care, zooming off on the road back home. Apple Bloom looked at the unicorn filly, registering pensively what she had to say and looking anxiously up at the moon, before she smiled back, attempting to match the amount of warmth present in Belle's smile to show appreciation, but it fell flat; the smile was fake and the twinkle in her eyes suggested worried uncertainty.

_...But what if he _is_ a bad guy...?_ the filly fearfully wondered, her eyes sad and troubled and her legs tense as they worked to carry her load home, an apprehensive Applejack and a worried Sweetie Belle at her flank...

* * *

Fin

June 17, 2014

1:46a

* * *

**A/N**: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. =3  
(I _did_ enjoy writing it, although I don't think I wrote Applejack's or Apple Bloom's accents right... Ұ_Ұ)

This one took a while to crank out, but it's here now. XD

Did you know that this last scene (with Applejack and the CMC... **DUH!** XD) was meant to be longer and would have taken a different turn? but my muse, weak as it was, made it turn out this way...

But... anyway, it didn't _make_ it turn out this way, but...  
Just saying that I had it planned out in my head differently...

But, oh, well. Maybe I could write a different version that actually turns out the way it's planned out in my head, later on... but I can't make any promises... Ұ_Ұ

With that said, stay tuned for Chapter Four on my Fimfiction. =3

And _**review** _this story! XD  
I see there are faves and lots of views for this story, (which I appreciate, by the way! XD) but I would love to hear what you all think of it! XD  
It would be nice. =3

Alright... see ya'll whenever! XD


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